Nine touches, 90 yards, 13 seconds.
Goal.
That’s what the McAllen High girls’ soccer team pulled off – a symphony in perfect harmony on the pitch – in a 7-1 victory over Donna North on Friday in the first round of the UIL Class 5A soccer playoffs.
While big-time scorers are receiving most of the glory for finishing, it’s those feeding them the ball who are oftentimes the unsung heroes.
“The most beautiful thing about that play is not even what happens on the ball, but how hard the girls are working off of the ball to be in the positions where their teammates can simply trust they are going to be,” girls assistant soccer coach Michael Smith texted.
The play started near the 10-yard line with Karla Paredes finding Haley Nixon near midfield. Nixon quickly found space with a pass to Camille Diaz who continued to play the ball through the middle to Emma Lopez. Lopez moved the ball forward to Savannah Ruiz, who one-touched it back to Nixon, sending a header to Julianna Millin, where two defenders began to approach. She one-touched it to a streaking Gabby Gonzalez, who sped past one defender and sent the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
Check out the passing en route to Gabby’s goal here
In McAllen Rowe’s grueling 2-1 overtime victory against Harlingen South, it was Camila Gil with a beautiful long, leading pinpoint pass to fleet-footed Ayloni Garcia that led to the game-winner. Get the ball to the feet of a scoring monger and good things happen.
“That was an ongoing thing all game, get the ball to Ayloni in space,” Gil said. “I knew where she was going and I got that pass through.”
Trusting teammates to be in a certain place at a specific time is crucial to the flow and transition from defense to offense. During a playoff game last year against Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial, McHi’s Ruiz sent what could be best described as a no-look on-the-money pass to Millin for a goal. Ruiz, the Bulldogs’ all-time single-season leader in assists, said afterwards that she “felt” where her teammate was going.
Freshman Kennedy Kaiser and sophomore Chloey Mejia provide a punishing 1-2 offensive punch for McAllen Memorial. The two combined for 53 goals and 23 assists during district play and missed a combined six matches. Kaiser may have recorded the most impressive goal of the season on a crossing pass from Sofia Alaniz-Choy. Called a “scorpion” kick, Kaiser raised her leg high behind her head while facing the goal and scored in the upper right corner.
Check out Kennedy’s amazing scorpion goal!
Memorial head coach Matthew Kaiser said having his daughter return to the field made a difference for the entire team.
“It was definitely a lighter mood. We had just run through the gauntlet of McHi, Vela, Sharyland and Pioneer and the girls had question marks,” the head coach said. “Those were very close games but then at full strength the girls picked it up and knew they would be hard to stop. It allowed the girls to take a break and believe in themselves more.”
“We have said that from beginning. even We don’t want it to be a one-player show. We want to play good soccer and whoever is in the right place at the right time they will finish it off.
With Kaiser’s return came an offense that flowed more smoothly each game.
“We don’t want a team to take our best scorer away and the game breaks down,” Kaiser said. “We want to make sure we are spreading the wealth. It’s not just the player but a combination of the player and the game plan.”
The Memorial head coach added that his team’s defense plays a huge role in getting the ball into the right spaces and to the right people.
“Mentioning the girls who play a big part behind the scorers, our defense was the best in our district, with the fewest goals allowed,” he said. “Sofia Davila and Ella Salazar are two playmakers in that defense.”
Players such as Rowe’s Gil, McHi’s Ruiz, and Memorial’s Kaiser and Mejia are double trouble for teams. Once someone from the defense or midfield puts the ball on one of their feet, not only can they find the back of the net, they also draw more attention and can razzle-dazzle with that extra pass for the same result.
“It’s all about teamwork. You have to have everyone working together in concert together for something like that to work,” McAllen High head coach Patrick Arney said. “It’s important to be on the same page.
“It’s so fun to see the orchestrated movements. We don’t write up plays but they have to find that flow and they do a ton of simple things and make it look easy. It’s difficult to make that many passes and have a purpose; we’re not passing just to keep possession, but passing with a purpose to get that goal.”
Those three teams – McAllen High, Memorial and Rowe – will look to advance to the third round of the playoffs after area round matchups tonight. If they win, combined with Vela’s win Monday night, all four teams from District 31-5A will play each other in the third round, meaning two will advance to the Sweet 16.
Rowe plays at home at 6:30 against Corpus Christi Flour Bluff, while McHi and Memorial play at Cabaniss Field in Corpus at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial and Victoria West, respectively. See the full soccer playoff schedule at rgvsports.com